Your rental home looking bland? Decor tips to give your home a personality without breaking rules

Give life to your boring rental place with these tips which won't break lease rules.
Just rented a place and sulking because your Pinterest dreams feel restrained by a lease contract, a whole list of dos and don'ts, and now you're just stuck with bland interiors you don't really vibe with? Decorating a rented place can feel challenging with all the added terms and conditions, but this shouldn't hold you back from giving your home the glow-up it truly needs.
In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Manojkumar Sharma, founder of Ashnam, a home decor brand, shared rental-friendly decor ideas without breaking rules.
Here's the entire guide he shared:
Lights
Light fixtures give a simple space a whole lot of character. This idea is particularly useful for those who are bound by restrictions and yet want to personalise the space to their taste. You could choose a metallic, standing lamp for the living area, which could serve more as a feature piece and not just an accessory. Similarly, table lamps can help create a warm and inviting atmosphere, ideal for elevating your reading corner or bedrooms in general. These lighting options are a great pick also because they can be moved around the house as needed.
Multifunctional furniture
For renters with compact houses, who are also looking to maximise their spaces and make the small area feel bigger, multifunctional furniture can prove to be a smart choice. Whether it is a foldable sofa-cum-bed, wall-mounted tables, or foldable racks, these innovative furniture pieces will not only serve multiple purposes but also allow you to have some empty space.
Photo wall
With double tapes, you can paste your memorable pictures, from trip polaroids to photo booth strips, your walls will start to look personal and pretty. Add fairylight for extra dreamy shine. Furthermore, you can also use strips of wallpaper.
Go bold with plants and vases

Invest in a mix of vases and planters of multiple shapes and sizes, and create a focal point that catches the eye and fits perfectly with your décor style. Adding plants and flowers to your space is not just about the aesthetics; it is an excellent way to bring the outdoors inside. So, whether you opt for colourful flowers, leafy plants, or succulents, adding plants and greenery can turn your rental apartment into a fresh environment. Other than greens, you can also go for cute vases.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORAdrija DeyAdrija Dey’s proclivity for observation fuels her storytelling instinct. As a lifestyle journalist, she crafts compelling, relatable narratives across diverse touchpoints of the human experience, including wellness, mental health, relationships, interior design, home decor, food, travel, and fashion that gently nudge readers toward living a little better. For her, stories exist in flesh and bones, carried by human vessels and shaped through everyday endeavours. It is the small stories we live and share that make us human. After all, humans and their lores are the most natural and raw repositories of stories, and uncovering them, for her, is akin to peeling an orange under a winter afternoon sun. Always up for a chat, she believes the best stories come from unfiltered yapping, where "too much information" is kind of the point. A graduate of Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi, and an alumna of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, Adrija spends her idle hours cocooned with herbal tea and a gripping thriller, scribbling inner monologues she loosely calls poetic pieces, often with her succulents in attendance. On lazier days, she can be found binge-watching, for the nth time, one from her comfort-show holy trinity: The Office (US), Brooklyn Nine-Nine, or Modern Family. Dancing by herself to her peppy playlists, however, is an everyday ritual she swears by religiously.Read More

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